Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37961043›Full record

ArticleBrain and behavior2023

Benefits of a mosaic approach for assessing cortical atrophy in individual multiple sclerosis patients.

Marlene Tahedl, Tun Wiltgen, Cui Ci Voon, Achim Berthele, Jan S Kirschke, Bernhard Hemmer, Mark Mühlau, Claus Zimmer, Benedikt Wiestler

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain and behavior, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. New developments in imaging in ALS.Journal of neurology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Marlene TahedlDepartment of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1762-4824
Tun WiltgenDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Cui Ci VoonDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Achim BertheleDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Jan S KirschkeDepartment of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Bernhard HemmerDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Mark MühlauDepartment of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Claus ZimmerDepartment of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Benedikt WiestlerDepartment of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Technical University of Munich · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft TA 1902/1-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveCortical gray matter (GM) atrophy plays a central role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology. However, it is not commonly assessed in clinical routine partly because a number of methodological problems hamper the development of a robust biomarker to quantify GM atrophy. In previous work, we have demonstrated the clinical utility of the "mosaic approach" (MAP) to assess individual GM atrophy in the motor neuron disease spectrum and frontotemporal dementia. In this study, we investigated the clinical utility of MAP in MS, comparing this novel biomarker to existing methods for computing GM atrophy in single patients. We contrasted the strategies based on correlations with established biomarkers reflecting MS disease burden.

methodsWe analyzed T1-weighted MPRAGE magnetic resonance imaging data from 465 relapsing-remitting MS patients and 89 healthy controls. We inspected how variations of existing strategies to estimate individual GM atrophy ("standard approaches") as well as variations of MAP (i.e., different parcellation schemes) impact downstream analysis results, both on a group and an individual level. We interpreted individual cortical disease burden as single metric reflecting the fraction of significantly atrophic data points with respect to the control group. In addition, we evaluated the correlations to lesion volume (LV) and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

resultsWe found that the MAP method yielded highest correlations with both LV and EDSS as compared to all other strategies. Although the parcellation resolution played a minor role in terms of absolute correlations with clinical variables, higher resolutions provided more clearly defined statistical brain maps which may facilitate clinical interpretability.

conclusionThis study provides evidence that MAP yields high potential for a clinically relevant biomarker in MS, outperforming existing methods to compute cortical disease burden in single patients. Of note, MAP outputs brain maps illustrating individual cortical disease burden which can be directly interpreted in daily clinical routine.

Indexed as

Multiple SclerosisMultiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-RemittingNeurodegenerative DiseasesAtrophyBiomarkersBrainGray MatterHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingBiomarkersbiomarkergray matter atrophyindividual MRIMAPmosaic-based approachmultiple comparisonsrelapsing-remitting multiple sclerosissmoothing

Identifiers

PMID37961043
PMCPMC10726853
OpenAlexW4388671369

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.